Flooring construction

ABSTRACT

A floor construction is provided which may be used as original installation or in the repair of leaking shower stalls, etc. The floor construction comprises a metal angle, placed at the bottom of the shower stall walls, and succeeding layers of asphalt mastic, waterproof fibrous material, wire lath, mortar and tile. Also provided in connection with the repair of leaking shower stalls is a method for raising the drain so as to compensate for the raised level of the floor.

United States Patent Knecht 1 July 1 1, 1972 s41 FLOORING CONSTRUCTION 2.299.105 10/1942 Svirsky ..4/l46 ux [72] inventor: Walter L. Knccht, 51 Cedar St., Wilkesa gg epa. 18702 [22] Filed: March 13, 1970 Primary Examiner-Price C. Faw, Jr.

Anomey-Thomas R. Boland [2!] Appl. No.: 19,383

[ ABSTRACT [52] US. Cl. ..52/250, 4/146, 52/267 A fl construction is provided which may be used as original [5 l] 1/64 installation or in the repair of leaking shower stalls, etc. The [58] Field olSearch ..52/250, 34, 265, 267, 268; floor construction comprises a metal angle, placed at the bottom of the shower stall walls, and succeeding layers of asphalt mastic, waterproof fibrous material, wire lath. mortar and tile [56] Rd Cited Also provided in connection with the repair of leaking shower UNITED STATES PATEN'IS stalls is a method for raising the drain so as to compensate for the raised level of the floor. 2 l97,874 4/1940 Myers ..52/265 X 2,246.10l 6/1941 McEnany 52/615 X 5Clalns,6l)rawingfigures 51 t Q "J a I ta: 21

PATENTED JUL 1 1 1972 SHEET 2 OF 2 mu on L 0 WM M1 we m 4 W rrooruno CONSTRUCTION BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a floor construction and more particularly to a tile floor construction for use in shower stalls, dairies, etc.

Shower stalls are generally constructed by first installing a lead pan on the floor of a cubicle and soldering the pan to a drain extending through a relatively small hole in its center. The sides of the pan extend partway up the walls of the cubicle so that when properly installed and soldered, the lead pan provides a waterproof base. The pan is then filled with a cementsand mixture which, while still wet, is faced with tile to a point lever with the strainer portion of the drain. The walls of the cubicle are also tiled, at least partway, and are joined with the floor tiling by a seam formed at the juncture between the curved bottom portion of the base line tile and the floor tile. After years of use in seam, and others, will erode and permit water to seep through to the lead pan. Detergents and other chemicals in the water which is thus collected in the pan will eventually cause erosion of the lead and permit leakage into other areas of the house.

In the past, whenever this condition existed, it was necessary to rip out the entire construction including the eroded pan and cement work and replace it with an entirely new construction including a new drain. This, of course, was an involved, time consuming and expensive remedy for the problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENI'ION A floor construction has now been discovered which may be originally installed in place of the lead pan construction of the prior art, or alternatively, may be used to repair the eroded lead pan condition described above. This unique floor construction comprises a base, walls extending upward from said base, an angle member having one portion afiixed to the bottom of said walls in water-tight relationship therewith and the other portion extending substantially outward from said walls, a first layer of mastic coating the base and the affixed portion of said angle, waterproof fibrous material bonded to the affixed portion of said angle by said mastic and extending at least partway along said base, a drain extending upward through an opening in said base, a second layer of mastic covering the entire area of said base and fibrous material and forming a water-tight seal around said opening for said drain in the base, wire lath secured to the fibrous material by said layer of mastic, cementitious material bonded to said wire lath and, tile sections anchored to the cementitious material, said tile sections covering the area of the base and extending up said walls to a point substantially fiush with the outer edge of the outwardly extending portion of said angle member.

In a preferred embodiment the floor construction will be comprised of a plurality of layers of fibrous material and asphalt mastic. Also, in the case of repairing an eroded, conventional lead pan construction, a simple and inexpensive method for raising the drain to compensate for the raised level of the flooring is provided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a fragmentary view in prospective of the present invention a portion being broken away to show the various layers.

FIG. 2 is a cross-section view of the floor construction shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross-section view of conventional floor construction showing the eroded lead pan structure repaired ac cording to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a metal angle used in this invention.

FIG. 5 shows a different form of the angle illustrated in FIG. 5.

FIG. 6 is a view in cross-section of a drain used in the present invention which has been raised to compensate for the raised level of the flooring shown in FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a floor construction according to this invention which has been installed as part of an original structure. When the flooring is put in place a metal angle member 1 is affixed to the bottom portion of a wall 2 by any suitable means, e.g. screws, nails, etc. An important part of this installation is providing a waterproof seal at the juncture between the wall and the angle. This may be conveniently accomplished by coating that portion of the angle in contact with the wall with a layer of mastic prior to attaching it thereto. Any of the conventional waterproof mastic materials may be employed in this invention although in coating the base area asphalt mastic is particularly preferred. After the angle has been put in place the area underneath its overhanging portion and the entire base area 3 are coated with a first layer of asphalt mastic 4. A layer of waterproof fibrous material 5, such as asphalt impregnated felt or glass cloth, is then placed on the asphalt 4 and coated with a second layer of asphalt mastic 6. A layer 7 of wire lath is then secured to the asphalt layer 6. The wire lath is provided to insure structural strength of the construction. A cement-sand mixture 8 is then poured over the wire lath and spread so as to provide a slight incline from the wall area to the center where a drain, not shown in the present illustration, is generally located. A cement-sand-lime mixture is generally used in building up that portion 9 of the wall under the angle overhang. The entire floor and base line areas are then faced with tile 10. If desired, the tile may be coated with anyone of the conventional sealers, such as a silicone sealer, so as to provide additional protection against water seepage.

FIG. 2 illustrates the relationship of the construction shown in FIG. 1 to a drain 11. The tile layer 10 is positioned flush with the strainer portion of the drain and each of the succeeding layers 4, 6 and 8 are bonded to the body portion of the drain so as to provide a waterproof seal.

In FIG. 3 a fioor construction has been shown as repairing an eroded lead pan installation. When this construction is used, a metal angle member 12 may be affixed to base line tile 13 which is bonded to a mortar layer 14 partially contained in a lead pan IS. The lead pan has been eroded through the action of chemicals and detergents contained in water which had previously seeped through seams in the tile 13.

In repairing the damaged flooring, that portion of the metal angle affixed to the tile is coated with mastic so as to provide a waterproof seal with the wall. The level of drain 16 is raised by removing the strainer cover, positioning a drain [7 of similar construction within the inside annular diameter of drain l6 and soldering it in place. This method offers a simple and inexpensive but effective means for raising the level of the drain to compensate for the raised level of the floor.

The surface under the overhanging portion of the metal angle and the tiled area 13 is then coated with a layer 18 of asphalt mastic which also forms a seal around the drain l7. Asphalt impregnated felt I9, or other suitable material is applied to the asphalt coating and its entire area covered with an additional layer of mastic 20. In the usual case the felt material will cover the entire area of the base. Alternatively, it will only extend a short distance from the walls. Wire lath 21 is laid on the asphalt mastic layer 20 and covered with mortar mixture 22. While the motor is still wet, cement is sprinkled over its surface and a layer of tile 23 applied thereto. The cement serves to securely anchor the tile to the mortar. While the present illustration shows specific layers of mastic and fibrous material it will be readily understood that the construction of this invention may comprise a plurality of such layers of material.

FIG. 4 illustrates a type of metal angle used in accordance with this invention. FIG. 5 shows a different embodiment of such an angle.

The drain shown in FIG. 6 illustrates the manner in which the level of the original drain is raised to compensate for the raised level of the flooring shown in FIG. 3. A drain head 24 is positioned within the inside annular diameter of the original drain 25 and soldered 26 thereto.

Although the drain construction shown in FIG. 6 and the floor construction generally shown herein has been described with reference to specified embodiments it will be readily apparent that these disclosures are exemplary and that the invention is capable of variations all within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A floor construction comprising a base, walls extending upward from said base, an angle member having one portion affixed to the bottom of said walls in water-tight relationship and another portion extending substantially outward from said walls, a first layer of mastic coating the base and the affixed portion of said angle, waterproof fibrous material bonded to the affixed portion of said angle by said mastic and extending at least partway along said base, a drain extending upward through an opening in said base, a second layer of mastic covering the area of said fibrous material and said base and forming a water-tight seal around said opening for said drain in the base, wire lath secured to the fibrous material by said second layer of mastic, cementitious material bonded to said wire lath and, tile sections anchored to the cementitious material, said tile sections covering the area of the base and extending up said walls to a point substantially flush with the outer edge of the outwardly extending portion of said angle member.

2. A floor construction as defined in claim 1 wherein said waterproof fibrous material is asphalt impregnated felt.

3. A floor construction as defined in claim I wherein said waterproof fibrous material is asphalt impregnated glass cloth.

4. A floor construction as defined in claim 1, wherein said mastic material is asphalt mastic.

5. A floor construction as defined in claim 1 wherein said outwardly extending portion of said angle is projected downward from said walls.

a r e s s 

1. A floor construction comprising a base, walls extending upward from said base, an angle member having one portion affixed to the bottom of said walls in water-tight relationship and another portion extending substantially outward from said walls, a first layer of mastic coating the base and the affixed portion of said angle, waterproof fibrous material bonded to the affixed portion of said angle by said mastic and extending at least partway along said base, a drain extending upward through an opening in said base, a second layer of mastic covering the area of said fibrous material and said base and forming a water-tight seal around said opening for said drain in the base, wire lath secured to the fibrous material by said second layer of mastic, cementitious material bonded to said wire lath and, tile sections anchored to the cementitious material, said tile sections covering the area of the base and extending up said walls to a point substantially flush with the outer edge of the outwardly extending portion of said angle member.
 2. A floor construction as defined in claim 1 wherein said waterproof fibrous material is asphalt impregnated felt.
 3. A floor construction as defined in claim 1 wherein said waterproof fibrous material is asphalt impregnated glass cloth.
 4. A floor construction as defined in claim 1, wherein said mastic material is asphalt mastic.
 5. A floor construction as defined in claim 1 wherein said outwardly extending portion of said angle is projected downward from said walls. 